Sustainability
We would rather tell you exactly where we are than write something vague and green sounding. So here is the honest version, including the parts we have not solved yet.
The most sustainable belt is the one you do not replace
Most running belts get thrown out for boring reasons. A buckle snaps, a seam gives out, elastic goes slack after a season, or the thing bounced so badly it never got worn in the first place. Every one of those is a design problem, not a customer problem.
So durability is where we put the effort. We test buckle placement and seam position on real training runs, in heat and rain, until things stop failing. A belt you still wear in three years has done more good than any label we could print on the packaging.
What we do today
- Plastic free packaging. Your order arrives in recycled card, printed with vegetable based ink. No poly bag, no plastic tape, no filler.
- We make in small runs. Producing to demand rather than forecasting big means far less dead stock, which is one of the largest and least discussed sources of waste in apparel.
- No seasonal churn. We do not retire colourways to manufacture urgency. A colour stays until runners stop wanting it.
- We repair before we replace. If something fails, talk to us. Often a part can be sent out instead of a whole new belt.
What we have not solved
Our belts use synthetic performance fabric. It is durable, it wicks sweat, and it survives being washed constantly, which are the qualities that make a belt last. It is also petroleum derived, and at the end of a long life it is not readily recyclable in Australian kerbside systems. We have not found a natural fibre that survives this use case, and we are not going to pretend otherwise.
Shipping is the other one. We ship from Australia, and international orders travel a long way. Consolidating orders helps a little. It does not eliminate the footprint.
What we are working on
- Sourcing a recycled content webbing that passes the same abrasion testing as what we use now
- A take back scheme so worn out belts come back to us rather than going to landfill
- Moving remaining plastic components across to recycled equivalents as suppliers make them available
Hold us to it
If you think we are falling short somewhere, or you know a supplier or material we should be looking at, we genuinely want to hear it. Email hello@tempobelts.com.au. We will update this page as things change rather than quietly leaving it stale.